BassNectar.....best dj in the US???

[recurse]

Hands-down, no contest the best DJ I've seen in the US was Amon Tobin. By a long [--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->] shot. I really enjoyed Clouds when they played at Dub War, though I don't know if they're based in the US, and evol intent are disgusting. Bassnectar is tops in the way of remaining universally appealing without compromising his aesthetic, but I feel Tobin can tailor his sound with equal skill and his productions are way more up my alley.

[jsills]

fcuking joker needs to play over here, his sound is tight. that kids a beast.

thanks you for saying evol intent, as far as crews they wreck the fucking place and have great dynamics in theyre set. best dnb shit stateside byfar. dope dope dope

mimzy my boy was chillin with rektchords and played a few tracks for him and his response was that they were dope but they would have sounded better if they were made by a brit. i guess our pop culture themes come thru alot but that goes both ways.

[Mr. Mittens]

bassnectar is a badman, but this thread needs moar joe nice.

[rez pez]

i think its so funny that some tards hate on him for hating on dubstep when hes been producing dubstep for a while now and his shows incorporate so much of it as well. i think his views simply shifted after a while, however i agree you can definitely find monotonous crap that doesnt have any soul in the genre, but it's usually not by the better known producers...

mesmerizing the ultra is to me hands down the best album ever. so many unique ideas and fucking amazing EVERYTHING in that. i don't even label or judge the tunes towards the genres they may or may not fit under, they're just like their own entity doing their own thing and doing it fucking masterfully.

[rastatronics]

dude dances harder than the whole crowd.

an all too common phenomena in the ableton-live/burning man scene for the "djs" to dance their asses off like mad men on stage. why not when you have all that extra time as the laptop does your work of a dj for you!

great performer absolutely! best dj in the US, a far cry.

[yong]

dude dances harder than the whole crowd.

an all too common phenomena in the ableton-live/burning man scene for the "djs" to dance their asses off like mad men on stage. why not when you have all that extra time as the laptop does your work of a dj for you!

great performer absolutely! best dj in the US, a far cry.

Laptops don't select.

[domitian]

The guy's talented for sure. But out of the couple of times I've seen him, he opens his mouth way too much. Not only does he stop the music to talk, but he'll go off on rants sometimes. It completely ruins the music.

Same with Z-Trip. I caught him a few months ago and the guy never shut up.

Personally, I can't stand when DJs use the mic as a bully pulpit. Let the music and mixing do the talking.

[green eggs and sam]

I got to hear him play at the Good Times festival in AZ. It was a sick show!

heard they killed it ay streetscene... by someone that doesnt really listen to electronic music much. That tells you something.

[surface_tension]

I wouldn't say there is a "best" but Bassnectar puts on a whole fucking hell of a lot better show than your average DJ or even your better top of the line DJs...

also, if you're not a turntablist and you can't envision having more than 1-2 records on a single turntable at a time, nor understand why one would have a need for more than 1 tune on a turntable at a time, you're not even in the top 100. 1 legged man in an asskicking contest.



Faders are meant to be jacked harder than Ricky Hatton's jaw vs Manny Pacquiao.

Z Trip is in my Top 10 though.

[just jim]

i've only seen him twice, and i'll give him another chance, but i don't think his shows are for me.

i saw him in 2007 and everything he played was a breaks remix of some old pop tune. maybe it's because i grew up in the 80's, but i don't ever need to hear salt 'n peppa's 'push it' again in any capacity. same goes for 'walk like an egyptian.' i heard breaks versions of these tunes but no dubstep at this show. perhaps that was when he didn't like it.

my friends talked me into seeing him again about 6 months ago. they assured me this show would be full of 'insane bass' and 'mindbending visuals.' instead, i got the capsa and rusko back catalog and looped videos of an early twentieth century assembly line schematics and dental surgery. not that there's anything wrong with any of that; but it wasn't exactly 'next level' as everyone i spoke to there made it out to be. the highlight of this night for me was when he got on the mic and threatened to stop the show if he were hit by another glowstick.

the crowds were certainly up for it even if i wasn't. can't really argue with that.

[fooishbar]

I really enjoyed Clouds when they played at Dub War, though I don't know if they're based in the US

they're from/based in finland.

[legend4ry]

And I think whoever mentioned the hip hop american/uk cultural divide is on to something. UK kids are sorta fundamentalist about certain aspects of the music, they've got a pretty entrenched culture. For instance, every UK DJ I've seen is pure vinyl except for Rusko, yet not a single US DJ I've seen, spare some very local dubstep DJs, are pure vinyl; even Z-Trip uses serato (a fuckin mean turntablist that one though). And I have never, in a couple years DJ'ing, going to shows, talkin shop with other DJs, ever heard anybody say any vinyl-elitist bullshit that I hear on this board, so that's why I reckon it's an entrenched cultural heritage thing, not a rational perspective.

To provide an example of an american kid not understanding something out of the UK, the ultra-synthy sound of guys like Joker and Benga is hit-and-miss for me (Bristol sound, is it?). I'm down with tracks like "Tron" and "Pleasure", but since I don't really understand the roots of it I can't listen to "Diary of an Afro Warrior" beginning to end, and I've only found one other Joker track ("Snake Eater", which is incidentally pretty soul influenced) that I can really vibe on.

Well, Bristol doesn't have a sound - its just a lot of forward thinking producers are coming out of those ends.


Headhunter, Pinch, Forsaken just to name 3, are all on a different tip and all from Bristol

And I think the vinyl thing is more of....You want tunes you really love in your bag! You don't want 1,000 tracks on a hardrive by mr.wibblewobble whos sent you messages on myspace every time you go for a show! Its selective picking and making sure you bring what people come to see - Dubstep, I don't wanna hear all these hiphop vocal mashups and metal tunes. I guess USA and UK just wants different things out of their DJs when they see em.

[pkay]

He's one of the better DJ's who touches on the dubstep genre.... and is relentless in his touring and is worth every penny...but best DJ in the US? Let's not get carried away.

You gotta think about people like Q-Bert, DJ Craze, Dj Shadow, DJ Z-trip, then you can get into the laundry list of hip hop djs, list goes on and on.

I think its a shame Europe hasn't got to see much of em.

[surface_tension]

dude dances harder than the whole crowd.

an all too common phenomena in the ableton-live/burning man scene for the "djs" to dance their asses off like mad men on stage. why not when you have all that extra time as the laptop does your work of a dj for you!

great performer absolutely! best dj in the US, a far cry.

Laptops don't select.

True, they also don't mix shit for you or warp tunes for you, near as I can tell. Nor do they take tunes, sample them, run fx, stretch, etc on the fly for you either. Really I'm not in the mood for a medium debate. All that matters is the end result frankly. If you're dancing, you can't see how the music is happening anyway. Put the DJ in a fucking closet for all I care, they aren't as important as the selection itself is. Real DJs know this, like real Emcees know that they are curtains, not the window and not the outside world.

Since people brought the UK into the mix, I'd throw Chef into the mix in terms of Dubstep. 3 decks or gtfo tbh. That is one of the few times when I'll respect the method of delivery is when people are on 3-4 decks and still destroying, deconstructing several tracks to their base elements and whatnot.

[whitelight]

True.

I remember when someone asked for a track ID in one of his sets. His answer was that it'd be kindof hard for him to answer since he mostly mixes lotsa different things together at the same time in his sets.

Maybe ableton let you mix music without beatmatching, but it offers lots of other new ways of mixing music that aren't necessarly easier.

As for Bassnectar being America's best Dj....I'd say he's probably the best one, or one of the best, Dj to throw a crazy energic and fun party.
As for a more deep and intense experience, I think Amon Tobin is definitely in the top 5.

My favorite Djs, though, are a bit less known. Heyoka and Sub Swara definitely are some of the most intense shit I've ever heard live.

[surface_tension]

Sub Swara definitely are some of the most intense shit I've ever heard live.

Quoted for truth man. Actually when I think about Bassnectar, I think Sub Swara, because for them it's like nothing is sacred. It's all about moving asses and having a good time.

[pikeymobile]

I wouldn't particularly call Amon Tobin an 'American' DJ. He was born in brazil and lives in the UK, and his sound is definitely on a big british tip. He pretty much defined the ninja tune sound in the late 90s and early 00s.

[Dark Reign]

Lorin is amazing.. easily my favorite DJ, hes just got something else..

Must be awesome to have your fave DJ play your tunes

[Rob Aeon]

yeah i mean bassnectar is a high energy experience no doubt and his bass certainly might get a few of the ladies riding the sub. u can tell that his set are very much pre organized (which is fine).. using ableton does that. but i dont know if u would really say bassnectar is the best american 'dubstep' dj, i mean sure cozzy frenzy has some mental wobbles, but at least for me dubstep has way more then what bassnectar seems to offer, i cant get that deep with lorin sometimes i think i am but it just nothing even close to say burial, i guess that should be obvious with the lack of insight into the genre that he demostrated in the earlier post, he really seemed to ignore the roots and then just replace it with arrogance. even his chilled tracks lack the sexy subtly found in the uk stuff, his not getting on my sex tape with bushido-the others, cockney violin, kito, burial...

[gwa]

in terms of best US DJ ever.... danny tenaglia.

but as far as dubstep DJs go, joenice has got some big dubs. selection is more than mixing ability.